Enhanced resistance to Botrytis cinerea in genetically-modified Vitis vinifera L. plants over-expressing the grapevine stilbene synthase gene

Abstract

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) was genetically modified with a construct containing a cDNA insert encoding the stilbene synthase gene (Vst1) from grapevine, under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter in order to test the potential of over-production of resveratrol to protect plants from fungal attack. Southern blot hybridization and quantitative real-time PCR analysis demonstrated the presence and integration of one copy of exogenous DNA sequences in two grapevine-modified lines. Relative expression of the Vst1 gene in different modified lines was confirmed by using gene-specific quantitative real-time PCR. Compared to the control, the concentration of trans-resveratrol quantified by HPLC was up to 7.5 fold higher in the modified plants. The necrotic lesion size of leaves of intact modified plants inoculated by Botrytis cinerea B05.10 strain was consistently smaller and significantly different (p B 0.05) than in control plants, showing that modified grapevine plants were more resistant to the pathogen than the control plants.